The collapse of the Late Bronze Age world brought chaos to the shores of ancient Egypt. Vibrant trade and tributes from Near Eastern lands had all but ceased after the Sea Peoples decimated those kingdoms. Droughts that arose from climatic changes greatly hindered the production and distribution of food grains; and internal turmoil brewed owing to extraordinary economic hardship. In the midst of this period of enormous difficulties, in early April circa 1155 BC, a band of treacherous conspirators, including royals and palace staff, unleashed a diabolic plot which probably led to the death of the Living Horus. Little could the hapless victim, Ramesses III – often called the last great pharaoh – who had repeatedly and successfully crushed invasion attempts by multiple enemies of Egypt on land and at sea throughout his reign, have known that he was at his most vulnerable in his own royal palace.
Belzoni retrieved the great granite lid of Ramesses III’s sarcophagus from the king’s tomb in 1815, which he then presented to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, in 1823 (Henry Salt collected the sarcophagus box and sold it to the Louvre, Paris, in 1826).
Ramesses the Grand
Though meticulous record-keepers, the Egyptians steered clear from documenting negative events. Such instances included losses in battle, details of internal rebellion and most important of all – attacks on the king’s person. It is therefore a sheer quirk of fate that a set of papyri dating to the Twentieth Dynasty, which enumerate the dark saga of overarching ambition among a few that ended in the demise of a pharaoh, survived down the millennia.
The final years of the Nineteenth Dynasty were akin to a cauldron of confusion; one in which political machinations, deceit and devious designs held sway for the most part. At the dawn of the Twentieth Dynasty, the son of its founder-pharaoh Userkhaure Setepenre Setnakhte (and Queen Tiy-Merenese), Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses-Heqaiunu, ascended the throne of Egypt. Better known as Ramesses III, he did not inherit an empire beset by a precarious or pernicious situation. But from Regnal Year 5 onwards, Ramesses’ reign witnessed umpteen campaigns against the Libyans and the dreaded coalition of forces known as the Sea Peoples. Through unquestionable grit and determination, this warrior-king defeated all his enemies and safe-guarded the sovereignty of the Egyptian state.
Colonnaded forecourt of the barque-shrine temple of Ramesses III, Heka-iunu, with Osiride statues of the king. The temple is remarkable for this period at Karnak, in that, it was built entirely of new material (predominantly sandstone).
Blessed with extraordinary militaristic acumen, it is estimated that Ramesses III was 31 years old when he was crowned upon the death of his father. After achieving phenomenal victories against his arch rivals, he sent expeditions to faraway lands to amass great treasure in the form of copper and myrrh. Not since the time of Pharaoh Hatshepsut had vigorous trade of this sort been embarked upon. At this time, the king shifted the seat of power from the erstwhile capital city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta to Medinet Habu.
- Ramesses III, The Final Warrior Pharaoh: Savior of Egypt in Her Darkest Hour—Part I
- Enduring Mystery of the Screaming Mummy: Mortal Wounds and Divine Justice—Part I
- The Four Great Beauties, and the Arts of the Courtesans in Ancient China
From his magnificent palace-cum-mortuary temple called the ‘Mansion of Millions of Years’ that he had remodeled as a militaristic monument, Ramesses commissioned a nationwide inspection of temples. The entire royal court that had come to inhabit the precincts of this glorious edifice would have surely supported these initiatives of the ruler. But none of the endless grandiose proclamations and enterprises made sense to the deprived subjects; and soon, matters were set to plummet inexorably.
The imposing Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu. The pharaoh used this structure as his royal palace and later converted it into a war memorial in order to commemorate his victory over the Sea Peoples and Libyans. This image was shot during an aerial survey of the West Bank in 2010.
An Heir and a Spare
At the age of 62, exactly double the number of years he was when he came to the throne, Ramesses III had accomplished much. Though Egyptian hegemony in the empire was not what it once was, the twilight of empire was still far away. The king was fortunate in that the Great Royal Wife, Tyti, and the numerous women in his harem had provided him an heir and a spare – all of whom he proudly listed on the walls of Medinet Habu. It was decided early on that the eldest offspring, Prince Ramesses (IV) would take on the mantle of kingship when his father passed away. With issues of succession sorted this was the perfect setting, the old Pharaoh would have thought. But it could not have been more deceptive.
This facsimile copies a scene in the tomb of Prince Amenherkhepeshef (QV55) in the Valley of the Queens. It shows the prince following his father, Ramesses III, who is led by the goddess Hathor. Amenherkhepeshef wears a sidelock of hair, symbolic of youth. The king wears an elaborate garment with a feather pattern and long sashes. Paper, tempera paint, ink. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In a series of delicate reliefs on the walls of the private quarters of Ramesses III above the gateway of his mortuary temple, the king is depicted engaging in amorous encounters with several unnamed women. As he unwinds in the cool of the evening… resting in a comfortable chair playing board games; his nymph-like, nude companions entertain him. “The royal harem was a venerable Egyptian institution, providing not just a supply of concubines for the king but also residential facilities and gainful employment for all his female relatives. The harem palace had its own landholdings, its own workshops, and its own administration. It was effectively a parallel court, and such a setup was not without its dangers,” explains Toby Wilkinson.
This scene of King Ramesses III smiting his enemies was a time-tested depiction of pharaonic power and prestige. Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. Medinet Habu.
In fact, even during the Old Kingdom, assassination plots against the king were hatched in harems. One only needs to consider the chilling words of Weni, a highly respected official who served under Teti, Pepi I, and Mernere - the first three kings of the Sixth Dynasty. Speaking about a case that concerned a royal wife who was involved either in a conspiracy or some other treasonous act, he declared: “…never before had one like me heard a secret of the king’s harem”.
Wilkinson throws more light on the subject: “There was something about the claustrophobic atmosphere that fed the bitter jealousies and personal rivalries of the king’s many wives. With little to occupy their minds besides weaving and idle pleasures, the more ambitious concubines nurtured resentments, angry at the lowly status of their offspring and wondering how they might improve their own and their children’s fortunes. When the pharaoh was a strong and successful leader, such murmurings fell away, but when things were going badly in the country at large, the allure of sedition was more tempting.”
Window grill from the palace of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu. It was here that the plot to kill the pharaoh was hatched by his own family members and confidantes. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Photo: Dave & Margie Hill/Kleerup)
Treachery of Tiye and Harem Conspiracy
Although much of the specific detail and order of events is lost, the general outline of the Harem Conspiracy against Ramesses III can be studied today, thanks to trial records found in the Judicial Papyrus of Turin, Rollin Papyrus and Lee Papyrus. Among the senior ladies in the royal harem, Tiye, a secondary wife nursed a secret desire to promote her son, Pentawer, as monarch in place of the designated crown prince. She must have been well-regarded and would have wielded considerable influence in court, for she managed to enlist the support of several key figures to participate in her dastardly plot to oust Prince Ramesses – and murder the pharaoh, Ramesses III. But how could anyone conceive a plan to kill the living Horus? “The office of king was unchallengeable, but the identity of that king was not,” states Steven Snape.
The repository of the sacred barque of the deity Khonsu constructed by Ramesses III. Karnak Temple. (Image: Neithsabes)
Before long, the confidantes of the pharaoh, such as the head of the treasury and the royal chamberlain also joined the plotters. Pebekkamen, the latter, turned out to be the right-hand man of the queen who was instrumental in winning over Pasai, the army commander, for his evil cause. “The majority of the conspirators were all personally close to the king, especially officials in the harem, which indicates how dangerous the situation was,” says Peter Clayton. Their planning involved the use of magic, before employing direct and practical methods. The conspirators believed that their plot would be aided by the use of black magic to deceive the guards at the harem and to allow certain messages to be delivered.
Magical spells were also used to make Ramesses III more vulnerable, making him an easy target for assassination. The plotters enlisted the court magician Prekamenef and Ramesses III's personal physician Iyroy to conjure the magic. Spells and incantations were chanted while the conspirators inched ever closer to killing the king. Meanwhile, Tiye ensured that the other women in the harem spread seditious messages among their relatives beyond the palace gates, to: “agitate the people and incite conflict, in order to foment rebellion against their lord.”
More upcoming in Part II, an Ancient Origins Premium series by independent researcher and playwright Anand Balaji, author of Sands of Amarna: End of Akhenaten
[The author thanks Leslie D. Black, Heidi Kontkanen and Howard Middleton-Jones for granting permission to use their photographs. The public archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art can be accessed here.]
Top Image: Remains of the Hypostyle Hall in the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu; design by Anand Balaji (Photo credit: Leslie D. Black); Deriv.
By Anand Balaji
References
Clayton, P.A. 2006. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson
Cline, E.H. & O'Connor, D. 2012. Ramesses III: The Life and Times of Egypt's Last Hero. University of Michigan Press
Dodson, A. & Hilton, D. 2004. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson London
Dodson, A. 2016. Poisoned Legacy: The Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty. The American University in Cairo Press
Hayes, W.C. 1978. The Scepter of Egypt: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675–1080 B.C.)
Reeves, N. & H. Wilkinson, R.H. 2008. The Complete Valley of the Kings. Thames and Hudson
Teeter, E. 2003. Ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute University of Chicago.
Tyldesley, J. 2006. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt: From Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra. Thames &? Hudson
Wilkinson, R.H. 2000. The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson
Wilkinson, T. 2010. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. Bloomsbury
